The International Air Transport Association (Iata)'s new chief urged governments to put an end to monopolistic pricing behaviour by some airports and others in the aviation supply chain.
Some airports, such as London's Heathrow, and air traffic control companies are exploiting a weakened airline industry by raising their prices in a bid to recoup some of the losses they suffered in 2020, Willie Walsh, Iata's newly-appointed director general, said on Wednesday in his first press briefing in the role.
"We cannot accept and we will not accept monopolistic-type behaviours from key elements of the value chain who may seek to recover their losses that they've incurred in 2020 from the industry as we seek to get going again," he said.
"We will be very strong and aggressive in opposing this and we will work with our member airlines to ensure that these suppliers don't take advantage of the situation.
"We will expect economic regulators and governments to recognise the need to step in and ensure that this sort of behaviour, which is clearly not acceptable, is not tolerated," he said.
Mr Walsh, a former chief executive of British Airways' parent International Airlines Group, became director-general of Iata at the beginning of this month. The industry veteran, who has more than 40 years of experience in aviation, has taken over the role from former Air France-KLM chief Alexandre de Juniac.
International traffic plunged 89 per cent in February compared with the same month in 2019, with no signs of recovery in the current environment, Mr Walsh said.
Forward reservations for the normally lucrative summer season remain a concern, Iata said.
Net bookings for travel between May and September are at 32 per cent of 2019 levels in North America, 20 per cent in the Middle East, 15 per cent in Europe and 14 per cent in Asia, according to the airline lobby group.
A V-shaped recovery in the global economy, where global output is back to pre-crisis levels, has raised fuel costs. This has left cash-strapped airlines to contend with rising jet fuel prices as well.
"Airlines are now having to pay more than $70 per barrel for jet fuel prices, which is almost as expensive as it was before the crisis and clearly that's making it more challenging to get back to cash-positive operations," Brian Pearce, Iata's chief economist, said.
However, Mr Walsh said he is optimistic that passenger traffic will recover strongly once travel restrictions are eased or removed due to pent-up demand.
"We should remain optimistic that the second half of this year will be more positive than we have seen so far," the former pilot said.
"The expectation of the vaccine rollout accelerating is one of the reasons why we can be optimistic that things will start to improve.”
With the Covid-19 vaccine campaigns accelerating, there's a "good chance" that some markets in advanced economies will open to air travel in the second half of the year, Mr Pearce said.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Read more about the coronavirus
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)
Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)
Wednesday
Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)
Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)
Norwich City v Everton (9pm)
Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)
Thursday
Burnley v Watford (9pm)
Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)
Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The 24-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Koen Casteels (VfL Wolfsburg).
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Nacer Chadli (West Bromwich Albion), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur).
Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea/Dortmund), Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), Dries Mertens (Napoli).
Standby player: Laurent Ciman (Los Angeles FC).
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The five pillars of Islam
